Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Xu Muchan's expression was too sorrowful. Wei Xilou cupped his face, gently wiping away the glistening tears at the corners of his eyes with his thumb, and instead smiled, asking, "Did Achan live well with your brother after that?"

Xu Muchan's heart tightened. His eyes widened as he stared straight at him.

Wei Xilou gazed back, not avoiding the fact that he had already guessed the truth: "Looks like it didn't go too well."

Xu Muchan shook his head and said slowly, each word deliberate: "I... was doing great. My biological parents didn't want me, and my adoptive parents didn't like me either. Later... my brother took me in. When someone bullied me, he'd get back at them for me."

As he spoke of these past events, the young man's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his pale complexion seemed to gain a bit of color. Wei Xilou sighed and smiled at the same time, cupping the back of the young man's head with his palm, then leaned down to plant a light kiss on his tear-wet eyelashes: "That's good. Achan, don't be afraid—you'll be able to go back soon."

The kiss was brief, barely a brush, gone as soon as it came. Wei Xilou pulled the blanket up to the young man's chin and patted it gently: "Don't think too much. Just get some sleep."

His hand patted the blanket softly, deeply reassuring. Xu Muchan's tangled thoughts were overtaken by drowsiness, and he soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Seeing the young man in deep slumber, Wei Xilou didn't leave. He sat by the bedside for a long time—so long he could have counted every lash—before finally rising and walking slowly to the door.

The Wei family members were already waiting respectfully in the courtyard outside.

Wei Xilou stepped out of the main house, glanced irritably at the crowd in the courtyard, then looked back over his shoulder and sighed softly: "What a shame..."

If Achan were a member of the Wei family, if Achan could stay... having endured all this, he'd have gone through it willingly.

But he wasn't.

Over the next few days, Wei Xilou's courtyard was unusually lively.

Wei Xilou remained the same as ever—gentle and patient in front of Xu Muchan, just like an indulgent elder brother.

But whenever the Wei family came, he'd drop his rare gentleness, looking weary and dealing with them perfunctorily.

During this time, Xu Muchan was forbidden from going out and could only stay by Wei Xilou's side, watching him make small talk with the Wei family.

He also caught the fear that slipped out beneath their fake affection.

This included Wei Xilou's own parents and younger siblings.

Madam Wei was an elegant, refined woman. She must have come from a prominent family—striking in appearance, graceful in every movement. Xu Muchan had also seen Master Wei and privately thought that at least half of Wei Xilou's good looks had to have come from her.

This noble lady was steeped in old feudal ways, showing her eldest son more reverence than closeness.

Xu Muchan noticed the slightly stiff smile on her face and automatically looked at Wei Xilou's face.

Wei Xilou's face gave nothing away. He treated his mother no differently than the rest of the Wei family—looking bored and indifferent as he replied: "I'm in good health. Thanks for worrying, Mother."

Madam Wei smiled politely and nudged the three children out from behind her, seemingly trying to get Wei Xilou to warm up to them: "Your younger siblings have been worried about you too. But it rained that day, and they stood outside all day in the rain. After returning, your second brother came down with a slight fever and just got better today. That's why I came to see you only today. And as soon as they heard they'd be visiting their eldest brother, they all insisted on coming."

The second young master, pushed to the front by Madam Wei, did look pale, still recovering from his illness.

But claiming they had insisted on seeing their eldest brother was complete nonsense.

Children can't hide their feelings and don't know how to fake it. Even after the adults told him over and over, he couldn't conceal the fear in his heart when facing Wei Xilou.

The second young master's legs trembled slightly, tears welling in his eyes, on the verge of tears.

Realizing this was unbecoming, Madam Wei sighed and handed the children to the accompanying nursemaid. She looked at Wei Xilou, hesitating, as if she had something to say: "Xilou, all these years... do you blame your mother?"

Wei Xilou tilted his head, as if he'd heard something amusing, and shot back: "What did Mother do that I should resent her for?"

Madam Wei was at a loss for words, unable to answer. The emotional appeal fell flat, and she could only say a few quick pleasantries before fleeing with her three children.

Xu Muchan watched her walk away, then looked at Wei Xilou.

Wei Xilou was flipping through an ancient book of tales about mountain spirits and monsters. Seeming to have found something interesting, he beckoned Xu Muchan over to look, looking completely unconcerned.

Xu Muchan leaned in, obediently reading the story on that page, and asked no further questions.

Not long after Madam Wei left, the third branch of the Wei family came by.

The third branch's mistress, whose maiden name was Wang, had only one son, who had come along this time.

"This is your younger brother Wei Ting. He went away to study in another city before—you two haven't seen each other for years, have you? It was only because something big happened at home that he was called back."

As she spoke, Madam Wang discreetly nudged Wei Ting, signaling him to greet his elder brother.

Wei Ting stepped forward, bowing his head and respectfully saying, "Eldest brother."

Wei Xilou kept his usual indifferent attitude, but Xu Muchan suddenly looked up, staring at Wei Ting with surprise.

Wei Ting was the third branch's son?

He had always assumed Wei Ting was one of Wei Xilou's two younger brothers—he'd never imagined he was from the third branch.

Xu Muchan studied Wei Ting carefully and found he was a stark contrast to the rest of the Wei family.

In the early years of the Republic of China Era, society was caught between old and new, and the Wei family was clearly a staunchly old-fashioned household. Apart from the men having cut their hair short, everything—from their clothing and speech to how they disciplined their servants—was steeped in old feudal customs.

The Wei family's main gate had never once been opened, so Xu Muchan had no chance to see what the outside world looked like. But based on what he'd learned in history, he knew the Wei family was completely out of touch with the times.

And this Wei Ting before him—appearing to be in his early twenties—wore a modern three-piece suit and glasses, with the look of a modern, educated young man.

Most importantly, when he looked at Wei Xilou, there was respect in his eyes, but none of the fear that other Wei family members hid behind their respectful manners.

Xu Muchan studied the young man with curiosity, wondering why he'd been spared.

Perhaps he had stared too long—even Wei Ting noticed and glanced back at him, puzzled.

Wei Xilou also set down his book, glanced at Wei Ting, then turned his face toward Xu Muchan, tapping the page with his finger: "What are you staring at, Achan?"

Xu Muchan hesitated, then came up with an excuse: "I noticed that Wei Ting seems to dress differently from us."

Madam Wang knew that Xu Muchan had recently become one of Wei Xilou's favorites, so she wasn't annoyed by his interjection. Instead, she said with pride: "Of course it's different—that's a suit. Ah Ting is currently studying at Saint John's University. In another two years, he might even go abroad to study."

Xu Muchan looked impressed.

After seeing off Madam Wang and Wei Ting, Wei Xilou rested his chin on his hand and asked Xu Muchan: "Achan, have you ever been to college?"

Xu Muchan said: "I'm not old enough for college yet."

Wei Xilou nodded thoughtfully: "That's true, Achan is still so young."

Then he smiled again, taking Xu Muchan's hand and toying with it: "But in my opinion, you'll go farther than Wei Ting."

Xu Muchan looked down at him, still full of unanswered questions, but seeing Wei Xilou's expression, he swallowed his questions.

After the Wei family members came by one after another to visit the west courtyard, things quieted down again.

But when Xu Muchan was allowed to go out, he found that the festive mood throughout the Wei household had grown even stronger, nearly reaching its peak.

Every face in the Wei family was beaming with smiles, so exaggerated they made Xu Muchan's skin crawl.

After a few more days passed, the West Courtyard had visitors again.

It turned out to be Old Master Wei, who hadn't shown his face around the Wei estate until now.

Once he knew the old master was waiting at the gate, Wei Xilou first had Xu Muchan retreat to the inner room, then had a servant pass the word and usher the old master inside.

Xu Muchan hid behind a screen and peeked out. The old master was said to be over ninety, but he looked only in his seventies, with jet-black hair, leaning on a dragon-head cane, spry and sharp, moving with a brisk stride.

He didn't seem nearly as wary of Wei Xilou as the rest of the family did. After entering, he looked Wei Xilou up and down before sitting down, raising his teacup and getting straight to the point: "The time I've carefully calculated is here—it's today or tomorrow. I've already had the coffin set up in the courtyard. Are you ready?"

The room went quiet for a beat, then Wei Xilou's low voice came through: "I'm ready."

The old master nodded and said: "The Wei family has thrived for years, and now disaster is looming. Whether we make it or break it is all on you. Don't let down the hopes the whole family has had for you all these years."

Wei Xilou said: "Don't worry, Grandfather."

The old master seemed pleased with that, got up with his cane, and before leaving, confirmed once more: "So I'll have them start getting things ready?"

Wei Xilou said: "Yes."

Once the old man left, Xu Muchan came out from behind the screen, his face serious as he looked at Wei Xilou: "They want you to become an immortal? What does that even mean?"

Wei Xilou shook his head: "Where'd you hear that nonsense? How can a person become an immortal? Ridiculous."

"Then what does the old man want you to—"

Before Xu Muchan could finish, he went limp and crumpled. Wei Xilou caught him, rubbed the back of the boy's flushed neck, and said in a helpless tone: "So disobedient."

He scooped the boy up, laid him on the bed, tucked him in, and pulled the bed curtains shut.

With one last look at the sleeping boy, Wei Xilou leaned down and pressed his lips to the boy's thin eyelids, then turned and left.

The main room's door slowly shut. Wei Xilou turned to the grim-faced servants in the courtyard and the golden-thread nanmu coffin sitting beside them.

He stepped up and lay down in the coffin, folded his hands over his stomach, and said, "Let's go."

The hand-picked servants lifted the heavy coffin lid, slowly closed it, and chanted in unison: "The eldest young master is ascending to immortality—"

The chant was deep and resonant, echoing through the empty courtyard and reaching everyone outside.

The people outside quickly dropped to their knees and joined in: "The eldest young master is ascending to immortality—"

Eight servants hoisted the heavy coffin and carried it through the kneeling crowd, leaving footprints with every step, heading toward the Ascension Tower in the west...

Xu Muchan groggily opened his eyes, feeling like he was swaying, with waves crashing against his ears, one after another. In a daze, he figured he was floating down a river.

Shaking off the dizziness, he sat up and realized it was unnaturally dark and eerily quiet around him.

He pushed aside the bed curtains, fumbled to light the oil lamp, and saw it was pitch black outside—and Wei Xilou was nowhere to be found.

Lamp in hand, he stepped outside and noticed the moon tonight looked especially round and huge—so huge it felt like it might drop right out of the sky.

The cold moonlight spilled down but didn't cut through the darkness around him.

It was like the Wei estate, swallowed by the night, and that freakishly huge moon each existed in their own separate world.

The whole estate was eerily quiet. Xu Muchan walked along the path outside the courtyard with his lamp, and before he'd gone more than a few steps, he spotted a blaze of bright lights in the bamboo grove nearby.

Against the darkness around them, those lights looked almost sinister, as if every lantern in the Wei estate had been gathered into that one courtyard tonight.

Xu Muchan blew out his lamp, set it by the path, and crept toward the courtyard. He saw the gate wide open, and inside, the yard was packed with people kneeling in a dense crowd.

The ones at the front, judging by their clothes, were all Wei family members, with the servants behind them. The favored ones with higher standing were up front, while the less useful ones were stuck in the back.

Everyone, without exception, knelt there in total silence. The courtyard was packed with people, yet strangely, not a sound could be heard.

Xu Muchan held his breath and listened closely—he couldn't even hear them breathing.

He tiptoed forward carefully. Even though he made no sound at all, someone kneeling in the back suddenly turned their head, their dull eyes rolling as they scanned around.

Xu Muchan stood frozen, only letting out a quiet breath after a long moment.

Once the person turned away, Xu Muchan hesitated for a moment, then took the Mountain God Amulet from his neck, wrapped the red cord around his wrist, and clutched the amulet tight in his palm.

He took two more cautious steps forward, and this time, the people in the courtyard didn't react.

Xu Muchan crept around to the wall behind the wooden tower and vaulted over it as nimble as a cat.

Using the tower for cover, he carefully watched the people in the courtyard. They'd all lowered themselves, pressing their foreheads to the ground with deep reverence and fear, not moving a muscle.

Xu Muchan even spotted Wei Xilou's two younger brothers and sister among them, all obediently pressing their heads to the ground, lifeless and still.

But soon, Xu Muchan understood why.

He saw that on their lowered faces, features that did not belong to humans had appeared.

Some had grown the downy feathers of a rooster, others the scales of a snake, and still others the long fur of a dog, horse, or monkey—but they at least still retained a human shape.

At the very front knelt Old Master Wei. The part above his neck had already transformed into that of a monkey, with brown, needle-like fuzz bristling out from his mandarin jacket, and he no longer bore any resemblance to a human.

The scene was absurd and eerie, yet everyone present seemed utterly oblivious.

Xu Muchan tightened his grip on the amulet in his palm, carefully stepping along the tower's shadow, and quickly slipped inside.

Once inside, he realized the tower's space seemed larger than before.

The lotus platform in the center remained empty, and directly beneath it sat a golden-thread nanmu coffin, its contents unknown.

And on the walls surrounding the coffin, several painted images had appeared—grotesque animals that resembled the painting Wei Xilou had once drawn.

A figure with a rooster's head; a yellow dog mimicking human upright walking; intertwined snakes as if conjoined; and a monkey covered in bristles draped in a horsehide.

These deformed monsters all had eyes filled with sinister malice. The moment Xu Muchan stepped into the tower, they turned their bloodshot pupils toward him.

Xu Muchan felt several gazes fixed on him. Normally, his heart would race, but now that he had removed the amulet, not only had his breathing and heartbeat slowed, but even his fear seemed to have faded.

He stared at the painted walls, muttering to himself to stir his sluggish thoughts: "Rooster, yellow dog, snake, horse, monkey..."

These animals stirred a vague familiarity in him. Xu Muchan strained his mind and finally remembered.

"So it's the Five Wild Gods."

The deities worshipped by the Wei family were actually the Five Wild Gods.

There were many folk accounts of the Five Wild Gods, with different names in different regions and periods—some called them the "Five Wild Gods," others the "Five Penetrating Gods" or "Five Sage Gods."

Some said the Five Wild Gods were

When the founding emperor first pacified the realm and rewarded his meritorious officials, he dreamed that the fallen soldiers pleaded for compensation. To appease the spirits of the war dead, he organized them into groups of five, providing them with blood sacrifices throughout the land, and ordered every household south of the Yangtze to erect small five-foot shrines, which later became commonly known as the Five Saints Shrine.

There is also a saying that the Five Wild Gods are the spirits of five animals—the horse, the monkey, the dog, the rooster, and the snake—which common folk worship to protect their homes and families.

Beyond these, there are many other tales, but one basic point holds true: whether they originated as the ghosts of soldiers or the spirits of animals, as generations passed, the Five Wild Gods gradually evolved into a kind of offbeat god of wealth.

It is said that worshipping the Five Wild Gods can make you rich overnight.

Thus, many commoners seeking wealth would worship these deities.

Given that the Wei family had lasted centuries, weathering dynastic changes while staying prosperous, it all seemed to make sense.

Yet if the Wei family had already secured their wealth, why did they still seek to make Wei Xilou become an immortal?

Xu Muchan's gaze moved slowly toward the coffin in the center.

The wooden pagoda was hexagonal in structure, with the main entrance taking up one side, the other five walls painted with the Five Wild Gods, and at the center where all six sides met sat that golden nanmu coffin.

Xu Muchan felt his mind growing hazy and sluggish, his thoughts grinding to a halt. He dared not delay any longer, pressing both hands onto the coffin lid and shoving it open with all his strength—

His face went blank for a moment as he gazed at the coffin's interior.

The coffin was empty. There was nothing inside.

Wei Xilou was not here.

Xu Muchan stood dazedly, leaning against the coffin, his long hair now hanging loose over his chest. His lips parted slightly, and he murmured repeatedly: "Mountain God Amulet... brother..."

He needed to put the Mountain God Amulet back on, fast.

Xu Muchan thought this, but his movements were slow. His arm rose as if in slow motion, but the red cord wrapped around his wrist simply wouldn't come loose.

Xu Muchan's forehead beaded with sweat from anxiety, but his face stayed blank. At that moment, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind him, untying the red cord and putting the Mountain God Amulet back around his neck.

Those hands were pale, slender, and flawless—like works of art.

Xu Muchan's sluggish mind finally started working again. He tried to turn around, but his shoulders were pinned down by those hands, and he couldn't move. He could only twist his head to ask: "Wei Xilou? Brother? Is that you?"

"Are you alright?" he asked, a note of urgency in his voice.

The person behind him gave no answer.

Xu Muchan felt a tall, icy body press against his back, while a light, cold breath brushed along the side of his neck, as if the person behind were sniffing him, right against his skin.

Goosebumps broke out wherever he was touched. Xu Muchan tried to struggle, but couldn't break free from the force of those hands. He could only stand stiffly, letting the other person sniff him all over.

As if satisfied with the scent, the person behind turned Xu Muchan around.

And at last, Xu Muchan could see his face. It was Wei Xilou—and yet it wasn't.

The figure before him could hardly be called human anymore. His skin was a colorless ashen gray, like a museum sculpture, his whole body the pallor of the dead. From his shoulder blades sprouted five malformed arms, each clutching a different object.

Xu Muchan recognized them—the heads or skins of the Five Wild Gods.

He clutched those bloody limbs, crimson blood trickling down his arms and staining his colorless skin.

Only then did Xu Muchan notice that, at some unknown point, the paintings of the Five Wild Gods on the pagoda's walls had vanished.

And now Wei Xilou towered over him. Xu Muchan tilted his face upward to finally see his face.

Upon that sculpted, perfectly proportioned face, his human eyes were replaced by a single vertical slit, packed with countless scarlet eyeballs, crammed together and pushing out like beans in a pod.

Beneath the vertical slit, a high-bridged nose twitched constantly like a beast's, still sniffing, taking in Xu Muchan's scent.

A wavering, unsteady voice sounded in Xu Muchan's ears, speaking his name as if unfamiliar with it: "Achan..."

Xu Muchan's mind went hazy for a moment. When he came to, the monster had somehow turned back into Wei Xilou, as if everything he'd just seen had been an illusion.

Wei Xilou pulled him into the coffin.

The golden nanmu coffin was not large. Xu Muchan's body pressed tightly against his, his fingers unavoidably brushing against his smooth, icy, jade-like skin—and his whole body shuddered.

Gazing at that familiar yet unfamiliar face, Xu Muchan asked, his voice trembling: "Are you Wei Xilou now—or the Five Wild Gods?"